Plug officially pulled from San Onofre nuclear plant

FILE - In this Friday, June 7, 2013 file photo, surfers pass in front of the San Onofre nuclear power plant in San Onofre, Calif. Southern California Edison says it is seeking to hold Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems liable for defective steam generators that forced the closure of the San Onofre nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
— AP

FILE - In this Friday, June 7, 2013 file photo, surfers pass in front of the San Onofre nuclear power plant in San Onofre, Calif. Southern California Edison says it is seeking to hold Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems liable for defective steam generators that forced the closure of the San Onofre nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
/ AP

Workers have removed the nuclear fuel from both units at San Onofre and notified federal regulators, a step that effectively terminates Southern California Edison’s license to operate the nuclear power plant, utility and federal officials said Wednesday morning.

“We will notify them that they are no longer authorized to operate the reactors,” said Victor Dricks, spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal agency charged with assuring the safety of nuclear power plants.

The procedural step means that Edison or a successor would have to apply for a new license to restart San Onofre, a process that has never been tried in the U.S., Dricks said.

Opponents celebrated the milestone. “Millions of people have dodged a bullet to see this reactor finally gone,” said Damon Moglen, strategic analyst at Friends of the Earth, a national environmental group that argued the plant was unsafe.

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Edison shut down San Onofre’s two reactors in January 2012 after radioactive steam escaped from a leak that developed in tubes inside a steam generator. On June 7, Edison CEO Ted Craver said the closure would be permanent, citing the high cost of maintaining the plant while the utility awaited permission to restart the plant’s Unit 2.

When both units were operating, San Onofre produced enough power for about 1.4 million homes. The next step is to "decommission" and dismantle the plant, a process expected to take decades and cost up to $4 billion.

San Diego Gas & Electric Co, which owns 20 percent of the plant, has filed a lawsuit against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which manufactured the steam generators that exhibited premature wear. Edison has filed a claim that triggers mediation under its contract.

Both utilities have informed investors to expect losses if state regulators hold them partly responsible for San Onofre’s costs. But the utilities have also asked to recover their costs from utility consumers.